About Carolyn

I live on five acres just outside Bundanoon, a rural township, two hours out of Sydney, Australia. It is flat, plateau country surrounded by eucalypt and deciduous trees in a park-like site. Its cool climate, many gardens, closeness to the escarpment and beautiful mists provide lots of inspiration for my work. Living on a large expanse of land has meant that I have a closer involvement with the natural features. It also enables me to more thoroughly investigate the smaller things that are here – the leaves, deciduous, conifer and eucalypt; the tracks left by insects on tree trunks and on the ground; the lichens; the fungi; the grasses; the birds; and the mists, sleet and storms of the cold climate in which I live.

My journeys away from home also present opportunities to observe, draw, interpret and incorporate new ideas into my works. A recent 8,000km driving trip to Central Australia has provided a lot of inspiration for new work based on the desert plants and landforms.

Hand stitching is at the core of my textile work. Indian kanthas and the tradition of close, straight stitches have formed the majority of the work that I do. However, I am also interested in finding other ways of stitching that express what I see. I cover large expanses of my own plant-dyed cloth with stitching that expresses the vastness of the Australian landscape.